The Carved-top Mandolin

This mandolin has a soundboard made in the same way as a violin, i.e. carved from two wedges of solid spruce to give a 3-dimensional raised or "domed" shape. This construction in combination with the violin style " f " holes give the instrument extra clarity in the upper frequencies. Bluegrass mandolin players especially find this helps to cut through acoustically when playing against banjo, guitar, fiddle and bass.

The photograph above shows an example with a "sunburst" finish on a spruce top. The back and sides are of lacewood and the fingerboard is ebony. It is fitted with an ebony Fishman mandolin bridge transducer which I have found to be the best available on the market for accuracy in reproducing an acoustic sound when plugged in.

Scale Length 350mm